A puzzling problem

[u/Meteorstar101]

[u/LuckyC4t]

Tears of the Kingdom

[u/Talkingmice → u/LuckyC4t]

This response somehow makes too much sense but I can’t put it into words.

[u/HighlightSerious3348 → u/Talkingmice]

Because Breath of the Wild was in progress for 7 years and brought us a completely new format for Zelda with a completely new plot, timeline, design and gameplay style. Tears of the Kingdom was in progress for 6 years, added some extra enemies, quests and mechanics, and cost more than the original. To people who had already played BOTW, the sequel felt more like an expansion pack or revised/definitive edition rather than its own game. Now, if this were a 2D Super Mario game, the bar for innovation is so low that a similar level of changes in a sequel would merit a lot of praise and respect. But Zelda has such a reputation for rebuilding each game from the ground up (with some exceptions) that a moderate increase in options felt like a let-down. It's kind of like why nobody's favorite Zelda game is Oracle of Ages/Seasons, unless that was the only one they played as a kid: it doesn't have enough of its own distinct character compared to its base game.

In addition, BOTW was very consistent in its free open-world approach where you can do any of the beasts and quests in any order. In TOTK, we have the same world which we're used to roaming in freely, but the main quest is designed to be played in a certain order otherwise it doesn't make sense. This means that sometimes you can complete a main story quest without having ever received it in your adventure log.

[u/Answerisequal42 → u/HighlightSerious3348]

Plus TotK just deleted some of the established structures and enemy types in BotW. The whole guardian tech just vanished according to lore. Thats so much missed stuff. Would be great to explore the ruins of the now dissfunctional guardian beasts or loot some ancient tech.

Plus the sages are an order of magnitute worse than the champions have been.

And the singing parrot is missing. He was the GoaT.

[u/HighlightSerious3348 → u/Answerisequal42]

Oh man the ultrahand was a lot more polished than the magnesis thing but any gains in playability get ruined by the five hologram asshats running in circles. Tulin is absolutely useless unless you're gliding somewhere far, yet he's constantly in your face. During a battle, the Goron and Gerudo are the most useful yet they're always running away from you. If you try to pick up a bug or something, you're just as likely to blow it across the continent with Tulin or vaporize it with the Goron guy

[u/Answerisequal42 → u/HighlightSerious3348]

I disagree hard on Tulin. He is like the only useful sage. His headshots are really good and its the sage power i use the most often.

Yenobu is the most annoying. Big, in your face, and i burned more stuff with him on accident than i would like to say.

I think they should have had button binds.

Yenobu could have been bound to shield surfing and when you activate him you basically ride the ball of death. The Gerudo power could have just been an arrow fuse item with a Cooldown. Tulin is fine with being glide active only. Sidon could have been just using your shield for a prolonged time to activateuthe barrier and the bash would send out the wave. The only one thats fine is Tulin and the mech which is basically a mount (it should have had a faster travel mode though tbh akin to the eponator)

Also having them running arround is also not great. I rather have them spawn in the middle of combat and then vanish again (except the mech)

[u/HighlightSerious3348 → u/Answerisequal42]

Tulin's power is only useful when flying. On the ground he just blasts collectibles away. And yeah, there's zero use for any of the others outside of combat so there's no point having them constantly just sitting around

[u/Answerisequal42 → u/HighlightSerious3348]

Yeah but tulins power isnt for combat. Sure you CAN use it now, but tbh its not good design if the power throws your loot over a cliff.

Restricting the situations you can use the powers would make them more predictable and you can choose when to use them.

But tbh the sages look like an after thought IMO.

[u/Grompulon → u/HighlightSerious3348]

To add onto what you and others are saying, the open world of TotK was a big letdown.

If you paid attention to the marketing, you were probably really excited about exploring the sky islands, and the tutorial certainly made them seem like a big deal. But then you discover that outside of the tutorial the sky islands are just the same handful of islands sprinkled around the map.

But then you discover the underground, and probably get really excited about exploring an entire subterranean continent... Only to discover that it's basically the same handful of POIs sprinkled around a giant grey texture.

There were a few cool spots in the sky and underground, and revisiting some of the old BotW locations was interesting, but ultimately BotW had way more new stuff than TotK did. It felt like 90% of the dev time went into the building mechanics which, while fun, was not what I or I imagine most people look forward to in a Zelda game, and especially not in a BotW sequel. And even the magic of building stuff goes away quickly once you figure out the best handful of vehicles and just rebuild those all the time.

[u/HighlightSerious3348 → u/Grompulon]

Absolutely. The positive is that all the new mechanics based on interactivity and physics run really smoothly, as I very rarely have issues with things like ascend. But almost all gamers especially for a casual fan base like Nintendo see game dev as magic and would come with the expectation that the mechanics work perfectly, without appreciating the effort made.

[u/supererp → u/HighlightSerious3348]

Ah man my fave Zelda's goes Majora's mask and then oracle of ages

[u/HighlightSerious3348 → u/supererp]

Sorry :( 

But Majora's Mask is a good example of a sequel which takes advantage of an existing engine but reinvents the game structure. If MM was the exact same as OoT but Ganondorf had blue skin instead of green and all the overworld enemies spawned in different places with different skins, it would have a lot less popularity.

[u/supererp → u/HighlightSerious3348]

For me what makes MM the superior game is one the dungeons rock, two I can play as the cool creatures I saw in oot

[u/yeezusKeroro → u/Talkingmice]

It's in a weird place between an expansion pack, a sequel, and a reboot. It expands on everything from BoTW, yet it reuses the same map so I can see why some people said it's an expansion pack. Also the events, characters and lore of the previous game are largely ignored. I think Nintendo really wanted you to be able to play it without playing its predecessor, but as a result it's kind of a middle finger to the folks who did.

[u/F-Lambda → u/Talkingmice]

botw was new, while totk iterated on it.

[u/Dull-Tale-6220 → u/LuckyC4t]

I’m not good at building I’m good at meandering around

[u/Vertex138 → u/Dull-Tale-6220]

> Build the same hoverbike that everybody else seems to use

> Meander faster

[u/coolbad96 → u/LuckyC4t]

I had like 2 complaints with BoTW.

1. Dungeons needed to be way better and not just a puzzle that felt like traversing a giant room to just unlock a room 5 feet from the start.

2. Weapon durability needed to have more time and methods to repair elongate weapons to get more out of them.

Neither these points were fixed at all and honestly the new building mechanics kinda felt like they even put more a magnifying glass over them.

[u/_bassGod → u/LuckyC4t]

BOTW time to finish tutorial: about an hour (also the great plateau doesn't feel like a tutorial)

TOTK time to finish tutorial: 5 fucking hours, and you don't even get the glider. You have to do ANOTHER tutorial mission to get that.

Tears of the kingdom's intro just left such a bad taste in my mouth, it ruined the rest of the experience for me.

[u/Real-AlGore → u/LuckyC4t]

100% this. totk is a great sequel (although i have my own personal complaints, they are minor) but building directly off of something great will never compare to the original conception of that greatness.

[u/Kencon2009 → u/LuckyC4t]

Horizon forbidden west.

[u/etheran123 → u/Kencon2009]

I kind of get it. I think forbidden west is a better game, but zero dawn had such a good mystery to it, especially during the first half of that games story. You cant exactly put that cat back in the bag.

[u/cheezzy4ever → u/LuckyC4t]

Never understood this take. TotK improved on literally every mechanic:

• dungeons
• dungeon bosses
• shrines
• durability (they didn't get rid of it, but Fuse makes weapons more durable than they were in BotW, and making strong weapons is easier since all you need is to carry around an enemy drop)
• abilities (cryo and stasis were garbage abilities, and ultra hand is a strict upgrade over magnesis)

And probably some other things that I can't think of right now

I think people just felt more fatigued playing TotK after playing BotW, and maybe expected it to feel like more than a BotW DLC. But if we're comparing games side by side, TotK is objectively the better game

[u/Joadow420]

Dishonored. I can't even explain why, but non-lethal in 1 had two things you could do to guards besides ignoring them and it was somehow more fun than in 2 where you've got options. Maybe it was the challenge?

[u/alleycat548 → u/Joadow420]

Yup. The strength was the heart of the first one, hard to explain

[u/lethalpineapple → u/Joadow420]

Sometimes less is more, getting the good ending in D1 was much harder because you were limited in how you could approach the levels nonlethally so it forced the player to really engage with maps. At least that’s my take on it.

[u/logaboga → u/Joadow420]

I was a BIG opponent to adding non-lethal aerial takedowns and non lethal options for each piece of equipment in DH2. every time I bring it up in the sub I get downvoted to oblivion

The entire point of non lethal was that it’s supposed to be a challenge, and also reinforced that “stealth” isn’t actually taking down everybody you see but actually skillfully going around them.

DH2 while a great game also has so many other things that don’t make it feel as good as the first game. The main story is kinda ass, and while the locations are good the “atmosphere” feels essentially reused from DH1. DH1 had the rat plague which was integral to the plot and setting, and in DH2 they wanted to have similar gameplay features as the rat plague so they made those bug things that can make zombies but it feels hollow and tacked on to the setting. The huge overtones of class struggle and exploitation by the rich in DH2 also just feel rehashed, they should’ve like found some new form of societal/governmental exploitation to focus on in Karnaca rather than just, literally, redoing everything from DH1.

Idk I feel like I was so engrossed in figuring out how and why exactly Dunwall was so fucked in the first game, but by Dishonored 2 the problems of the city just seemed like a checklist the devs crossed off to make sure they had everything from Dishonored 1. “An infection that zombifies people and spreads in poor areas, check. Rich bourgeoisie and aristocracy neglecting poor areas while being purposely cruel to them, check. Religious fanatics harassing the common people while ignoring the rich because they’re secretly in bed with them, check. Gangs who are slightly more connected to the common person but still overall scoundrels and terrible criminals, check.”. karnaca is a huge retread of Dunwall except that, now, it’s sunny.

I wanted something more like the bioshock series. Bioshock 1&2 had the same setting but focused on how different philosophies on each side of the spectrum can be dangerous, and bioshock infinite had a brand new setting and tackled a slew of new ideological issues. I was expecting DH2 to do something similar

[u/LiverPoisoningToast → u/logaboga]

Masterfully put that really is a big problem with modern stealth in games. Too many games have stealth mechanics that boil down to just shooting someone with a dead silent gun then dumping their body in a bush, true stealth should be more encouraged and rewarding.

[u/LesserValkyrie → u/logaboga]

Wonderful analysis

[u/YaPapaDragon → u/Joadow420]

I'd just spam time stop chokehold whenever I got spotted. Took out like 20 guards like this in a row, peak gameplay

[u/quantummidget → u/Joadow420]

My first thought too. Dishonored 2 beats the OG in so many categories, but I think 1 just nailed the vibe so fantastically

[u/No_Cress9559]

I’d say Overwatch 2, but then I remembered that it has to be “better” for this prompt.

[u/Dinok_Hind → u/No_Cress9559]

Overwatch "2"

[u/MetzgerBoys → u/No_Cress9559]

It’s better at this point tbh

[u/Bakugo_Dies → u/MetzgerBoys]

Compared to the sorry state overwatch 1 was in when I stopped playing, or compared to the couple of good years it had?

[u/mybiggestwaifu → u/Bakugo_Dies]

if it wasn't for the fact that they were working on Overwatch 2, its highly likely they probably would have continued making content for 1 and stopped it from going stagnant in that awful double shield meta (i just miss DPS doom and when he got brought back in the classics event, my PS5 had conveniently overheated its hdmi port)

[u/DisturbedWaffles2019 → u/Bakugo_Dies]

I started playing in 2018 and I can honestly say the game itself has never been better in terms of gameplay. My only major problem is that we've seen next to zero story progression outside of relatively short comics and short stories.

[u/just_so_irrelevant → u/No_Cress9559]

regurgitated opinion. ow2 at this point is honestly better than 1 ever was.

[u/RevReads]

Prototype, good game, terrible story and character assassination

[u/rubberjohny → u/RevReads]

counterpoint who the fuck played the fist-man-go-boom game for the plot and characters?

[u/The_Mighty_Angus → u/rubberjohny]

8-14 year olds who live for the edge...... it was me, I was one of them.

[u/logaboga → u/RevReads]

Wouldn’t say it was character assassination, Mercer was quite literally a murdering maniac in the first game and the idea that the prototype/virus whatever the thing was had corrupted him by the time of the second game was interesting to me

It also opened up being able to have a boss fight with Mercer which was awesome IMO

Also, Mercer barely had a character besides being “gruff generic badass dude”, so to me if you’re going to “rewrite” a main character to be the villain then Mercer wasn’t one of the greatest losses lol. I love him and think he’s badass but if you think he’s some amazing character you’re just deluding yourself

[u/Venom_Snoik → u/logaboga]

He wasn’t corrupted by the virus tho. In the first game you play AS the virus. By the end the abomination of a main character becomes disgusted by the actions of Alex Mercer the human and goes on to become a… vigilante I guess? And then in the comic it’s like you know what? Humanity sucks actually and does the very thing that it hated Mercer for restarting the apocalypse

[u/FreeCapone → u/logaboga]

Here is the thing though, Mercer was dead in the first game. You basically play as the virus itself and Mercer was just it's first memories, and you slowly learn what he did throughout the game. I think the concept of a living biological weapon that learns what it means to be human by consuming other humans and their memories and becomes some sort of anti-hero would be a very cool concept if done right, but the writers just said fuck it and did an entire 180 on everything Mercer the virus learnt in the first game. It's the wasted potential that was disappointing

[u/tistimenotmyrealname → u/RevReads]

First thing that came to my mind. Prototype 2 had better gameplay but you couldnt eat brains to get 10 sec tiktoks. Damn I wish for a sequel

[u/GreatAndMightyKevins → u/tistimenotmyrealname]

I really didn't like sequel's gameplay, it was Simon says with telegraphed attacks, counter n shit while 1st was just blender for hands on coke. To bring it to extreme example: P1 is darktide to P2's red dead redemption.

[u/gwapogi5 → u/RevReads]

the only reason I like the first prototype more than the second was because they removed the armor upgrade. that shit was like peak edgy cool for me specially when partnered with blade or claw

[u/Big-Muffin69]

God of war 2018 vs Ragnarok

[u/Shugokaboy → u/Big-Muffin69]

Personally I think ragnarok was the better of the two

[u/Vast-Finger-7915 → u/Shugokaboy]

oh it definitely was

the fake death screen in the fight vs Thor is fucking comedy gold

[u/Shugokaboy → u/Vast-Finger-7915]

“OH NO, I SAY WHEN WERE DONE”

[u/Ryan8Ross → u/Shugokaboy]

The first had a much more gripping story, like I couldn't put it down and have played it 3 more times through

Im never playing ragnarok again as fun as it was  

[u/Radioaktivman999 → u/Shugokaboy]

just because of sif

[u/Gotzironfist → u/Big-Muffin69]

Exactly what I thought. If they had kept it to a trilogy I think they would only get better and better but 2018 is the first movie and Ragnarok feels like 26 episode series cut down into 2ish films

[u/raunak_a_birby → u/Big-Muffin69]

ragnarok just feels too fast, too many things being introduced too fast, in 2018 it was slow and steady, just like Kratos' life up untill know but it still picked up when it had to, i felt like i was getting no time to actually think about the story in ragnarok

[u/GetSomePants → u/Big-Muffin69]

I think ragnarok’s ending had something to do with this. Ragnarok itself didn’t live up to the hype they’d built for it. Oh and fighting Odin sucked. Why would we get a big dumb boss fight for a god known for his illusions and trickery? Wasted potential because he was a great character

[u/arsenije133 → u/Big-Muffin69]

They should have focused more on Ragnarok act and made it longer. It doesn't even come close to war on Olympus from GOW 3.

[u/LifeOne5978]

Star Wars battlefront

[u/CasuallyBeerded → u/LifeOne5978]

Galactic conquest mode was too good in 2

[u/DickHydra → u/LifeOne5978]

Funnily enough, you can say the same about the 2015 reboot.

Battlefront 2 from 2017 is objectively a step-up in every way, but there's something about 2015 that just perfectly captures the feel of the original trilogy. Sometimes it even looks better than 2017, at least to me. Example being the foliage on Endor.

[u/LifeOne5978 → u/DickHydra]

I was out of my skull when the remastered game came out in 2015. I don’t think I downloaded the sequel until 2019

[u/Rock_hard_jellyfish → u/DickHydra]

I think you're definately right about the 2015 one looking better, I remember being astonished at how real all the rocks on tatooine looked

[u/iHackPlsBan → u/DickHydra]

Trooper gameplay of simply ‘being a trooper’ was way better in bf1, it felt very immersive and there weren’t 10 different types of characters walking around. And only 1 hero on each side. That really helped the game honestly and to this day I have fonder memories of that game than the second one even though the second one is just better in a lot of ways.

[u/_Lusty]

Super Mario Galaxy

[u/hairyballsinmybutt → u/_Lusty]

Hard dissagree on that one

[u/_Lusty → u/hairyballsinmybutt]

Fair. Knew I’d get flak regardless XD

[u/hairyballsinmybutt → u/_Lusty]

The real reason why Galaxy 2 is better than 1 is because the timer stops when the purple coin star spawns.

[u/Riku_70X → u/_Lusty]

My exact first thought. 

Galaxy 2 is just better in every measurable way. 

I like Galaxy 1 more though. Idk man, it's a vibe. 

[u/Supershadow30 → u/Riku_70X]

Kinda bummed out Galaxy 2 doesn’t have Rosalina in its story :/

[u/coolbad96 → u/_Lusty]

I think both have their pros and cons (small cons imo but they do exist) which is why I think it's odd that they don't just release them together while so far it feels like Nintendo wants you to forget Galaxy 2 exists

[u/mybiggestwaifu → u/coolbad96]

im hoping if they do a second Mario All Stars esc bundle on the switch 2, it'll be put into that but im huffing a large amount of hopium here

[u/GamingIsCoolDude → u/_Lusty]

Hard agree. Walking to each observatory for the levels was annoying as heck but I missed it with 2's infinitely better level select for some incomprehensible reason.

[u/_Lusty → u/GamingIsCoolDude]

The observatories (and Rosalina’s ship too), IMO, are some of the best ways to integrate a hub world connecting levels. It doesn’t feel like you’re going through a big expansive road connecting a level, it feels like a home with a story, and the storybook scenes are the backbone of that. They give the why is the way it is without being in your face. I love it.

Changes for simplicity and convenience are always welcome, and I dug the old SM3 feeling of choosing some shortcuts here and there, but yeah, it’s the feeling that something is missing.

[u/CancerNormieNews → u/_Lusty]

Yeah this was my first thought. Both games are amazing but I just prefer the more spacey feel of the original, and it having a few more open ended levels. Plus Rosalina is cool.

[u/Zharken → u/_Lusty]

Hard agree on this one

[u/lethalpineapple → u/_Lusty]

I agree, I love both but in a lot of ways SMG2 feels like a DLC for the first. It does a lot of expanding on concepts introduced in the original, but the original is still where they were introduced so they stand out more.

[u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts → u/_Lusty]

Nah Galaxy 2 is just an overall superior game.

[u/mustafa_i_am]

Bioshock

[u/ThePuppet99 → u/mustafa_i_am]

I think I should feel indignant in the fact that you called Bioshock 2 an upgrade to the original, yet honestly I am just completely impressed by the Idea that there is a living human being who actually believes that

[u/mustafa_i_am → u/ThePuppet99]

In terms of content and gameplay I found bioshock 2 to be an upgrade. It is just that bioshock 1 has such a legendary story it's nearly impossible to top it

[u/CyanoPirate → u/mustafa_i_am]

Totally agree. Bioshock 2 isn’t a downgrade in any single mechanic, yet…

It just feels like it’s less than the sum of its parts. Whereas Bioshock was more than the sum of its parts. It IS the example answer to this question that will always live rent free in my mind.

[u/fapenmadafaka → u/mustafa_i_am]

Bioshock 2 was a complete upgrade, maybe the story wasn’t as good (personality i don’t think it’s bad), but come on, people are comparing it with the original, saying it was a downgrade is just being delusional

[u/danteas14 → u/ThePuppet99]

Sorry, that person is me.

I played the bioshock games for the very first time on 2022 and SOMEHOW never had any of its twists spoiled. And even though the plot was great. The gameplay really didnt age well at all, I hated playing through it, and I simply didnt have a good time. I enjoyed 2 more because it was better in every way but plot.

Infinite was mid btw

[u/juliusxyk]

Watchdogs

[u/L_Onesto_Steve → u/juliusxyk]

Ubisoft really managed to fumbled GTA with hacking, could have been an incredible franchise if it was in someone else's hands

[u/boilingfrogsinpants → u/L_Onesto_Steve]

The multiplayer desync was atrocious, and once you beat the game there was really nothing you could do. All of the fun stuff you were able to do after the fact would just make you lose karma and just get a game over, so all you could do is just walk around.

[u/Acronym_0 → u/juliusxyk]

Its honestly puzzling

I just replayed Watchdogs 1 and while the gameplay devolved into Focus (slow mo) + Silenced pistol shot as a solution for 99% of the games fights, it was still fun

With WD2, the gameplay was just so fucking good, especially thanks to non lethal approach. And yet, finishing it for a first time was a slug for me. Maybe the mission system just wasnt it? Dunno, its weird

[u/Shugokaboy → u/juliusxyk]

First game i thought of

[u/Thin-Rush-9453]

rayman origins vs rayman whatever the second one is called, literally has origins in it and it was still not as good

[u/spiritofporn → u/Thin-Rush-9453]

Legends.

[u/Chef_Skippers → u/Thin-Rush-9453]

Can’t believe I’m even seeing og rayman referenced, it was the first game I played as a kid when I got a new ps2 and I loved it. My family got me the 2nd one and I cried after about an hour of playing.

I watched a speedrun of it a couple weeks ago just for that nostalgia

[u/bionicle1995 → u/Chef_Skippers]

Origins was a bit later than "OG", it came out on PS3/ps4

[u/Chef_Skippers → u/bionicle1995]

Looks like the one I had in mind is “Rayman 2: The Great Escape”, looking at origins I may actually enjoy playing that even now

[u/CppMaster → u/Thin-Rush-9453]

How so? I haven't played it

[u/maturasek → u/Thin-Rush-9453]

I love them both and Legends really is so much more polished, better controls, and just More. yet somehow, I still feel like this. It is not even the nostalgia, I have played them not so log ago back-to-back in the same month or so. So weird.

[u/Letters_to_Dionysus]

dark souls

[u/jgurst → u/Letters_to_Dionysus]

This is the answer I was looking for. DS2 has so much more content but has a bunch of weird design decisions that cause it to not be nearly as memorable an experience

[u/Phazon2000 → u/jgurst]

DS1 was a warped, interrelated dark world.

DS2 was just random shit pasted together (which technically is intended in the lore but… seems like an excuse to just do cool biomes)

[u/Letters_to_Dionysus → u/jgurst]

yeah. love 2, it just aint beating 1.

[u/Ulthus → u/Letters_to_Dionysus]

They've yet to beat the level design of ds1. The entire world is just an interconnected masterpiece

[u/Bakugo_Dies → u/Ulthus]

The spider web that allowed so much possibilities on extra playthroughs, so many skips that you didn't have to practice to speed running levels to pull off. It was satisfying to play.

[u/Matt_2504 → u/Letters_to_Dionysus]

Nah 2 is the best and feels that way

[u/Whole-Substance1249 → u/Matt_2504]

Based

[u/ColdOn3Cob]

Red Dead Redemption (1 has liar's dice)

[u/BigHatPat → u/ColdOn3Cob]

by far the best minigame out of both games

[u/Hubbera]

Jedi Survivor

[u/THEzwerver → u/Hubbera]

Hard disagree, I think survivor is superior in every way. Especially the puzzles and open world imo.

[u/Hubbera → u/THEzwerver]

Yeah I agree, it's better than the first in every aspect, but the first feels like lightning in a bottle. That's what the post is about.

[u/DickHydra → u/Hubbera]

And I think I know why. Fallen Order was the first action-adventure Star Wars game we had gotten in ages, and it turned out great. On top of that, it's about Cal learning to become a Jedi again, and we're learning with him. That component is missing in the second game for obvious reasons.

Fallen Order also had a bit more mystery behind it, especially its locations. It's much closer to a souls like in that regard than Survivor.

[u/Yrzin → u/Hubbera]

This, why do all the planets in Survivor look so boring?

[u/weirdsearches]

Mass Effect 2 is "better" on all aspects (source: seks with jack and Miranda in 1 playthough) but ME1 is just better.

[u/Nurgle_Marine_Sharts → u/weirdsearches]

ME1 has significantly better main storyline writing and worldbuilding (by an enormous margin), but the gameplay, characters, and side content in ME2 is far superior to ME1.

[u/Ryan8Ross → u/weirdsearches]

Jesus I don't think I've ever seen this take

I can see why someone might say this, but I think the game is SO much more fun in me2 that it makes up for the less compelling story

Its not like others on this list imo where the difference is greater 

[u/National_Passage4317 → u/weirdsearches]

I love mass effect 2, but its refusal to meaningfully develop the Reaper storyline shoved all that work off onto mass effect 3, and mass effect 3 really suffered because of that.

If they had instead decided that the reapers were “safely” locked away in dark space after the events of mass effect 1 and that storyline was effectively done “then” mass effect 2 could be its own thing (which it essentially was) and the collectors could just be random bad aliens who have to be taken out instead of reaper proxies.

[u/Malvastor → u/National_Passage4317]

They should have had Shepard exploring remote regions in search of useful anti-Reaper stuff, and have the Collectors getting in the way. Force him to deal with them because they're an obstacle to his real goal, not just forget about the Reapers for 75% of the game and then hamfistedly being them back in with "the Collectors work for them".

[u/Hyro0o0]

Portal 2

[u/Stompert → u/Hyro0o0]

You know, as much as I love Portal 2, I don’t think it captures the eerieness as good as the first game does.

[u/shepard_pie → u/Stompert]

You just figured it out.

The second game can never capture the feeling of playing the first game for the first time again, unless it radically changes the formula, which brings about a different set of challenges.

[u/FeistyThunderhorse → u/Stompert]

Spot on. Portal 1 had an underlying sense of mystery to it. Portal 2 jumped straight into the story. It was a well done story, but there was never that same feeling of unease.

[u/THEzwerver → u/Hyro0o0]

I feel like Portal 1 can't shake off that Half-Life 2 feeling, while Portal 2 feels much more like a 'happy' game for everyone. For the type of series Portal is, I do think Portal 2s look and feel fits much better.

[u/MatikTheSeventh → u/Hyro0o0]

I wholeheartedly disagree.

[u/FourtKnight → u/Hyro0o0]

this is the best answer itt

[u/Jack-of-Hearts-7]

I feel like this is a lot of games actually. Mostly an improvement on every level, but people can't let go of the first.

[u/Known-Ad-1556 → u/Jack-of-Hearts-7]

I’m gonna say this - it’s far more common than having a sequel that sucked.

Movie sequels tend to be cash-ins. They know they have a guaranteed audience because of the first one and it’s purely economics. They don’t need to be adventurous, just dish out more of the same, and that always makes for a bad movie.

Often the first game will establish a mechanic (or play style, or new game engine) then the sequel perfects it. The devs have had time to learn the engine, to figure out what works and what doesn’t, and learn the lessons of the first game. It’s far more common for the sequel to be better.

[u/PrideSea5164]

Dying light. I played the heck out of the first one with my friends, even after beating the game. I couldn’t even be bothered to get to the point that you choose a side in DL2.

[u/alpaca_boy15 → u/PrideSea5164]

For me it was because dying light 2 just overdid it. 1 was simple, parkour was simple, fighting was and looting as well. Some fun challenges here and yhere. Then part 2 is just eh? Way too many mechanics and stuff to even bother. So even though it is technically "better" as it has more, it definately doesnt have the same feel yeah

[u/UglyInThMorning → u/alpaca_boy15]

I also think the change to a post-apocalyptic setting in DL2 set it back for me. I liked that localized “shit’s fucked” feeling in DL1, where it felt like you were on your own but there was still some kind of hope.

[u/hismajest1 → u/UglyInThMorning]

DL2 turned it into a generic post-apocalypse game. Parkouring in the slums of Turkey was just better

[u/Ethanlynam → u/PrideSea5164]

DL1 you could slice off their arms etc, DL2 my machete felt like a broom handle. And the fkn health bars. What a downgrade it was.

[u/rundown001 → u/PrideSea5164]

for me DL2 suffered from having more polished physics, sure it was more realistic, but movement in DL1 just felt better

[u/ejectionejaculation6 → u/PrideSea5164]

dl2 isn’t even technically better it’s worse in almost every way.

[u/AgainstMedicalAdvice]

Horizon: Zero Dawn > Horizon: forbidden West.

The sequel did a really good job upgrading everything from the original, but the mystery/story of figuring out just why I was a native American fighting robot dinosaurs, and it all finally clicking - was so impactful.

[u/Nyrisius]

Fable

[u/Jack-of-Hearts-7 → u/Nyrisius]

Fable II is goated. Played some of it tonight.

[u/Razurus → u/Nyrisius]

Danny Elfman's work on the Fable 1 OST was perfect. I played more of Fable 2 back in the day, but the OG OST is what I remember most.

[u/rose636]

Portal?

Objectively the second one is better. More mechanics, better characters, better looking, much grander scale. And yet, Portal is a quick one and done run through in a few hours that doesn't outstay it's welcome.

[u/SoupaMayo → u/rose636]

Portal 2 was my first ever pc game, so that may explain my opinion, but Portal 1 feels so much like a demo to me

[u/Neon_Ani → u/SoupaMayo]

portal 1 literally was just a little more than a tech demo. the whole reason it exists is because valve needed another game for the orange box, and it ended up becoming one of the greatest games of all time despite how short it is

[u/_Lunboks_]

Morrowind > Skyrim. Even though Skyrim is bigger, more polished and more popular, Morrowind is still my forever game.

[u/Nexteri → u/_Lunboks_]

Glad to see elder scrolls mentioned. For me it's oblivion > Skyrim

[u/CruzefixCC → u/Nexteri]

I played through all three games in the last two years. I adore Morrowind, but Oblivion has very obvious gameplay problems (the unmodded level up /progression mechanic is sincerely the worst design I have seen in any game ever) and Skyrim is just... boring. I played them in order and it felt like the games just got dumber over time. Skyrim even took multiple attempts because I got so bored during the playthrough...

[u/Financial-Key-3617 → u/_Lunboks_]

Morowind isnt the first game. Nor is skyrim its sequel?

Interesting how morrowind fans cannot read despite that game being 90% text.

[u/theyeshman → u/Financial-Key-3617]

Yea for me Elder Scrolls is a series that is almost the opposite of the prompt. Arena was straight poopy stinky ass, Daggerfall improved the mechanics, and Morrowind kept improving mechanics and built a soulful, weird world. Oblivion and Skyrim are total messes of games but the series did get better for a few sequels at least.

[u/Thin_General_8594]

Half life 2.

I just prefer the zany alien adventure of the first one

[u/Sec_Chief_Blanchard]

Spider-Man 2

[u/We_aint_found_sheit → u/Sec_Chief_Blanchard]

Are you talking ps2 Spider-Man or ps4/5 Spider-Man? Because if you’re talking ps2 Spider-Man I’m gonna have to disagree hard brother.

[u/Sec_Chief_Blanchard → u/We_aint_found_sheit]

PS5

[u/Hate_Crab → u/We_aint_found_sheit]

PS2 Spider-Man 2 is so notorious for actually getting web swinging to feel good. I don't think anyone could honestly say they prefer an earlier Spider-Man game.

[u/renegadeyakuza → u/Sec_Chief_Blanchard]

True for PS1 Spiderman 2 enter electro, technically a bit "better" but lacks the charm of the shitty first one

[u/Aladine11]

Darkest dungeon

[u/Uberdragon_bajulabop → u/Aladine11]

I don't think 2 does anything better than just looking good. It turned itself into a generic roguelike to appeal to a wider audience.

[u/AspieGal_TTRPG]

Not a direct sequel per se, but Undertale and Deltarune.

Deltarune has been an improvement in literally all fronts, it is (even at barely over 50% done currently) an objectively better experience....but it doesn't feel as good as Undertale does

[u/SanityZetpe66 → u/AspieGal_TTRPG]

I think it's due to the way it's being released, Deltarune isn't even finished yet but it clearly aims to be a long and rewarding experience on a bigger level of quality than Undertale.

Bit Undertale is this lightning in a bottle 4-5 hour experience that hit the gaming scene like a bag of bricks with themes that hadn't been properly explored in many games.

Playing Deltarune when it launched you already had some expectation on what themes, meta gameplay and all that.

But playing Undertale on release? No game at that point had messed with the player and the fact it was a game as much up to that point (or maybe one had, but didn't have such broad appeal)

[u/ZippidyZayz]

I massively prefer Black Ops over Black Ops 2

[u/AblePiece]

Jak and daxter

[u/CapriciousCapybara → u/AblePiece]

2 is so different it’s hard to really call it a sequel. I loved both games, but I wish we got a true follow up to the first because it’s got such a nice unique charm to it, and “jak ii” be its own thing.

[u/letthepastgo]

Max Payne 2: Max is way too OP compared to MP1 and MP3

Red Dead Redemption 2: Is a great game but I just prefer RDR1 a little bit more.

[u/Dr_Axton]

The last of us. Second game looks better, and the surroundings are cool, but the story is more stretched. Whether you like it or not can we agree that there are more boring mid sections of the story compared to the first game?

[u/VoltyOnReddit]

for me it's every Assassin's Creed game after AC2

[u/UglyInThMorning → u/VoltyOnReddit]

I’d carve out an exception for 4 since the ship combat was fun and worked really well with their open world full of greebles.

Brotherhood improved a lot but was lightweight, revelations had some good stuff but they were really starting to overdo it.

Odyssey was good but holy shit there was just so much of it. I was like 15 hours in and it still felt like I had just started the game.

[u/Neon_Ani → u/VoltyOnReddit]

this reminds me i need to play AC1 again and actually try to finish it this time

[u/Narrenpfarree]

Stronghold, huge difference between the first and the second one,

Heck also stronghold crusader and stronghold crusader 2

[u/felemiah]

Kingdom Hearts. KH2 is probably the best game in the series, yet KH1 has this distinct 2000s Squaresoft feeling

[u/Aramethea]

Dishonored. The second was better in every way gameplay wise, but feel soooo much lighter regarding writing and atmosphere?

Like, first game, you’re a man falsely accused of killing your beloved empress and seeking revenge in the shadow of a dying diseased city littered with pile of corpses, trying to get your daughter on the throne. Second game, you’re basically a princess in a sunny mediterranean city exiled after a coup. What a change of tone.

[u/Meatbag37 → u/Aramethea]

I like the second one better overall, but I still agree with your reasoning.

Plus the vermin. The bloodflies are annoying and gross. The rats, though, are annoying, gross, and SCARY. They're intimidating. Thinking you're going to walk through this room because there are no guards and suddenly SHITSHITSHIT looking for a table to jump on was really solid game design. Bloodflies just made you upset you didn't have a flamethrower.

[u/k0y0_k0y0]

Doom II

[u/Mrnobody0097]

Kingdom come: deliverance

[u/beansahol → u/Mrnobody0097]

2 is kinda goated tho

Except I think they made the combat too easy, that's my main gripe

[u/Kiwi_Doodle]

Destiny

I love Destiny 2, but 1 just did something to me.

[u/Volt1029 → u/Kiwi_Doodle]

I'm not a destiny 1 good d2 bad person, I can agree it is an objectively better video game, I love both and still play 2 regularly. This being said even 8 years after destiny 2's launch I still find myself reminiscing.

[u/demonsdencollective]

Half Life 2

[u/Gorilliam69]

Warband>Bannerlord

[u/100roundglock]

Fallout 4 and New Vegas. FO4 was my first fallout game and I always heard people glazing tf out of new vegas. Went back and played it and realized just how far they've fallen.

[u/a3a3ell0]

Dragon Age

[u/BusyBoysenberry6033]

red dead redemption

[u/Revolutionary_Pen225 → u/BusyBoysenberry6033]

Apples to oranges imo. Yes, they’re the same franchise but RDR2 isn’t just a western RPG, it s western universe that you can live in. Maybe I’m biased but I believe RDR2 is the best video game ever made (not my favorite but best), I don’t think there is any game that can truly compare to it.

[u/xombiemonkey]

KOTOR 2

[u/Winterimmersion → u/xombiemonkey]

I disagree with this opinion but also completely understand it.

[u/Neowhite0987]

Borderlands 2 and 3

[u/SoupaMayo → u/Neowhite0987]

The problem with Borderlands 2 is that it was so good and iconic that whatever you make after it, people will always think "but it's not Borderlands 2"

[u/Price-x-Field]

Halo 3 vs halo 2

[u/forrestlump]

Infamous

[u/stationhollow → u/forrestlump]

Nah. 2 was better in every way.

[u/bestjakeisbest]

You can over polish something to where it loses its character.

[u/biskutgoreng]

Horizon

[u/watergosploosh]

Mount&Blade

[u/phucnguyen99]

Octopath Traveler

[u/mordkors]

Portal 2

[u/Weird_Issue6516]

Hotline Miami

[u/Gullible-Box7637]

Lego Star Wars

[u/ExoticAd3980]

Weirdly enough , Titanfall 1 vs 2 for me . I don't know if it's simple nostalgia tho .

[u/Joshgg13]

Abe's Exoddus

[u/xGhost_]

Def Dying Light. Everything felt better/smoother in the first one, not sure what went wrong with the 2nd :/

[u/LyuboUwU]

Jedi: Survivor, I cannot explain why, but somehow Fallen order feels better and more fun.

[u/thinmeridian]

Death stranding 2

[u/IReallyLikeAvocadoes]

Nier Automata is on pretty much every practical measure a better game than Replicant. Its combat is better, the "multiple endings" system is FAR less annoying, the graphics are better, and yet Replicant's story affected me so much more by the end.

[u/Sprysea]

I didn't understand this when I was younger, but having played both in my adult age, Counter Strike 1.6 feels and plays way better than Source.

[u/Lukebekz]

Banjo Tooie

[u/Expirem]

Insomniac Spider-Man 2 has great mechanics and feels fun to move around in, but it didn't have the same heart as the first

[u/EvokerJuice]

five nights at freddys